(DNR # LE-17-13)
The scope statement was approved by the governor on July 29, 2014.
Rule No.
Relating to
Revisions to law enforcement aids to counties and municipalities under Chapter
NR 50 and section
NR 64.15.
Rule Type
Permanent.
1. Finding/Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
These will be permanent rules.
2. Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
Make revisions to ss.
NR 50.12 and
50.13, Wis. Adm. Code, and move language from s.
NR 64.15 to ch.
NR 50, Wis. Adm. Code, pertaining to law enforcement aids to counties and municipalities for boat, all-terrain/utility terrain vehicle, and snowmobile patrol units. The proposed revisions will provide consistency and standardization for the state, counties and municipalities in the administration of the law enforcement aids program.
3. Description of the Existing Policies Relevant to the New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule, and an Analysis of Policy Alternatives
All-Terrain Vehicle (ATV) Patrol Units — s. NR 64.15, Wis. Adm. Code.
• Move this section from ch.
NR 64 to ch.
NR 50, Wis. Adm. Code, to provide one code location for all law enforcement aids to municipalities. Each of the patrol units use the same forms and process for claims for reimbursement.
• Change current references to “all-terrain vehicle" to “all-terrain and/or utility terrain vehicles" to reflect law changes effective July 2012 under
2011 Wis. Act 208.
• Clarification of Definition: Under s.
NR 64.02 (7) “Enforcement" means the detection and prevention of crimes and civil violations, and the arrest of those persons who violate such laws. To qualify for state aids under s.
23.33, Stats., and s.
NR 64.15, Wis. Adm. Code, officers involved in the “enforcement" of s.
23.33, Stats., must meet the requirements in s.
165.85, Stats., at the end of the patrol period and must have the authority to make arrests for the violations of the laws they are employed to enforce.
• Include hours for safety education teaching as a reimbursable cost, consistent with water safety patrol requirements. Allowing safety education teaching hours as exempt hours will allow the patrol units to include all relevant hours on their claim, while keeping the patrol hours as actual hours spent patrolling. A local unit of government may be reimbursed for the actual teaching hours of a law enforcement officer who conducts an authorized department ATV safety education course. Teaching hours are considered “exempt" hours and may not be included in patrol hour totals. Reimbursement will be limited to two (2) ATV Safety education courses per patrol year.
• Salary Schedule: Increase the allowable fringe rate to actual costs up to a maximum of 50% of the reimbursable straight time salary rate to allow the patrol units to more accurately reflect current day practices when calculating fringe rate percentage.
• Salary Schedule: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, create a maximum percentage limited to 30% of the total hours claimed for administrative hours that patrols may be reimbursed. To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types and to limit the administrative hours claimed by a patrol unit to ensure patrol units are reimbursed for time spent patrolling vs. administrative tasks, thereby reducing the cost per citation. Examples of Administrative hours: creating arrest reports, daily logs, court time, equipment purchasing/ specifications, preparing claim packet.
• Patrol Hours: Increase the minimum patrols hours required for patrol units to be eligible for a reimbursement from 20 to 40 hours.
• Require Department approval prior to the purchase of capital equipment to ensure consistency across the state.
• Depreciation Schedule: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, changes would be made to the depreciation methods. Capital items ($2,500 or over) authorized by the Department shall be depreciated over a period of five (5) years at 20% annually. Repairs under $2,500 to authorized capital equipment may be reimbursed during the year the repairs were paid for. All repairs to capital equipment $2,500 and over shall be depreciated over a period of five (5) years at 20% annually.
• Remove requirement for DNR to send forms to the patrols. Forms are available electronically on the DNR's webpage.
• Remove requirement for patrol units to submit 2 copies of the completed forms to DNR. Two copies are unnecessary.
Snowmobile Patrol Units — s. NR 50.12, Wis. Adm. Code.
• Clarification of Definition: Under s.
NR 50.03 (8) “Enforcement" means the detection and prevention of crimes and civil violations, and the arrest of those persons who violate such laws. To qualify for state aids under ss.
30.79 and
350.12, Stats., and ss.
NR 50.12 and
50.13, Wis. Adm. Code, officers involved in the “enforcement" of ss.
30.50 to
30.80, Stats., or ch.
350, Stats., must meet the requirements in s.
165.85, Stats., at the end of the patrol period and must have the authority to make arrests for the violations of the laws they are employed to enforce.
• Include hours for safety education teaching as a reimbursable cost, consistent with water safety patrol requirements. Allowing safety education teaching hours as exempt hours will allow the patrol units to include all relevant hours on their claim, while keeping the patrol hours as actual hours spent patrolling. A local unit of government may be reimbursed for the actual teaching hours of a law enforcement officer who conducts an authorized department ATV safety education course. Teaching hours are considered “exempt" hours and may not be included in patrol hour totals. Reimbursement will be limited to two (2) ATV Safety education courses per patrol year.
• Salary Schedule: Increase the allowable fringe rate to actual costs up to a maximum of 50% of the reimbursable straight time salary rate to allow the patrol units to more accurately reflect current day practices when calculating fringe rate percentage.
• Salary Schedule: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, create a maximum percentage limited to 30% of the total hours claimed for administrative hours that patrols may be reimbursed. To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types and to limit the administrative hours claimed by a patrol unit to ensure patrol units are reimbursed for time spent patrolling vs. administrative tasks, thereby reducing the cost per citation. Examples of Administrative hours: creating arrest reports, daily logs, court time, equipment purchasing/ specifications, preparing claim packet.
• Patrol Hours: Increase the minimum patrols hours required for patrol units to be eligible for a reimbursement from 20 to 40 hours.
• Require Department approval prior to the purchase of capital equipment to ensure consistency across the state.
• Depreciation Schedule: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, changes would be made to the depreciation methods. Capital items ($2,500 or over) authorized by the Department shall be depreciated over a period of five (5) years at 20% annually. Repairs under $2,500 to authorized capital equipment may be reimbursed during the year the repairs were paid for. All repairs to capital equipment $2,500 and over shall be depreciated over a period of five (5) years at 20% annually.
•
Remove requirement for DNR to send forms to the patrols. Forms are available electronically on the DNR's webpage.
•
Remove requirement for patrol units to submit 2 copies of the completed forms to DNR. Two copies are unnecessary.
Water Safety Patrol Units — s. NR 50.13, Wis. Adm. Code
•
Clarification of Definition: Under s.
NR 50.03 (8) “Enforcement" means the detection and prevention of crimes and civil violations, and the arrest of those persons who violate such laws. To qualify for state aids under ss.
30.79 and
350.12, Stats., and ss.
NR 50.12 and
50.13, Wis. Adm. Code, officers involved in the “enforcement" of ss.
30.50 to
30.80, Stats., or ch.
350, Stats., must meet the requirements in s.
165.85, Stats., at the end of the patrol period and must have the authority to make arrests for the violations of the laws they are employed to enforce.
• Salary Schedule: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, increase the maximum percentage from 20% to 30% of the total hours claimed for administrative hours that patrols may be reimbursed. To limit the administrative hours claimed by a patrol unit to ensure patrol units are reimbursed for time spent patrolling vs. administrative tasks, thereby reducing the cost per citation. Examples of Administrative hours: creating arrest reports, daily logs, court time, equipment purchasing/ specifications, preparing claim packet.
•
Patrol Hours: Increase the minimum patrols hours required for patrol units to be eligible for a reimbursement from 40 to 80 hours.
• Require Department approval prior to the purchase of capital equipment to ensure consistency across the state's patrol unit.
• Warnings: To provide consistency across the three patrol unit types, allow patrol units to claim written warnings in addition to citations similar to the ATV and snowmobile patrol reimbursable items. Two (2) documented written warnings will be given the same weight as an arrest. No more than 50% of the credits to reach the standard may be written warnings.
•
Add Municipal Boat Patrol US Coast Guard Annual Report (Form 8700-330) to the list of forms required as part of the annual reimbursement claim submittal. Information collected on this form is required in the US Coast Guard federal grant application process.
•
Remove requirement for DNR to send forms to the patrols. Forms are available electronically from the DNR webpage.
•
Remove requirement for patrol units to submit 2 copies of the completed forms to DNR. Two copies are unnecessary.
4. Detailed Explanation of Statutory Authority for the Rule (Including the Statutory Citation and Language)
The chapter relating to water safety patrol units in s.
30.79, Stats., establishes that the department shall promulgate rules that restrict the costs eligible for state aid. Snowmobile enforcement aid language statutory authority is contained in s.
350.12 (4), Stats. All terrain/utility terrain vehicle enforcement aid language is contain in s.
23.33 (9), Stats.,
5. Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend Developing the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
One month.
6. List with Description of all Entities that may be Affected by the Proposed Rule
-
See PDF for table 
7. Summary and Preliminary Comparison with any Existing or Proposed Federal Regulation that is Intended to Address the Activities to be Regulated by the Proposed Rule
Not applicable
8. Anticipated Economic Impact of Implementing the Rule (Note if the Rule is Likely to Have a Significant Economic Impact on Small Businesses)
Proposed changes will have an overall negligible economic impact on the county sheriff's departments and local municipalities identified in the list above.
A review of the reimbursement payments for the past three years indicates that increasing the minimum patrol hour requirement could affect 5 ATV patrol units, 12 water safety patrol units and 5 snowmobile patrol units that would have to increase their patrol requirements in order to meet the minimum standards. However, the revision will provide for an increased law enforcement presence thereby providing a positive impact for health and safety.
The revisions propose capping the reimbursable administrative time to 30%, which is close to the amount used for federal grants and other aids program within the State of Wisconsin. While reducing the maximum administrative time allowed will impact patrol unit reimbursement claims, the intent of the law enforcement aids program is to provide reimbursement for law enforcement activities.
These rules are applicable to country sheriff's departments and local municipality enforcement units and impose no compliance or reporting requirements for small business.
9. Anticipated Number, Month and Locations of Public Hearings
The Department anticipates hold two public hearings in the month of September 2014. Hearing cities will be Madison and Wausau.
Contact Person
Roy Zellmer, 608-212-5385.
Revenue
This scope statement was approved by the governor on July 24, 2014
Rule No.
Relating to
Income, franchise, and excise tax provisions.
Rule Type
Permanent.
1. Finding / Nature of Emergency (Emergency Rule Only)
Not applicable.
2. Detailed Description of the Objective of the Proposed Rule
The objectives of the rule are to:
• Revise ss.
Tax 2.67 and
2.82 to change references to certain corporate franchise and income tax forms that are being consolidated and renamed as a result of forms redesign.
• Revise s.
Tax 2.88 (3) to reflect that refund interest may not be paid on an overpayment that results from the carryback of a net operating loss. This provision is under s.
71.05 (8) (c), Stats., as created by
2013 Wis. Act 145.
• Amend s.
Tax 4.10 (3) (b) 2. to reflect the removal by
2013 Wis. Act 54 of limits on the capacity of a vehicle transporting fuel and the distance between the destination of the import or export of fuel from a bulk plant and the Wisconsin border.
• Revise s.
Tax 4.65 (3) (c) to reflect that
2013 Wis. Act 204 provides that exemption certificates used to claim exemption from the motor vehicle fuel tax on gasoline or diesel fuel are valid for 3 years.
• Amend s.
Tax 14.01 to include Schedule H-EZ as a form for claiming homestead credit.
• Revise s.
Tax 14.03 to reflect the current amount of the dependent deduction under s.
71.52 (5), Stats.; include net operating loss carrybacks as an item includable in income under s.
71.52 (6), Stats., as amended by
2013 Wis. Act 184; and clarify that only nontaxable pension rollovers are excluded from income.
3. Description of Existing Policies Relevant to the Rule, New Policies Proposed to be Included in the Rule, and an Analysis Of Policy Alternatives
Existing policies are as set forth in the rules. New policy is being proposed to reflect the law changes described above. If the rules are not changed, they will be incorrect in that they will not reflect current law or current department policy.
4. Detailed explanation of statutory authority for the rule (including the statutory citation and language)
Under s.
71.80 (1) (c), Stats., the department may make such regulations as it shall deem necessary in order to carry out chapter 71 of the Wisconsin Statutes, relating to income and franchise taxes. This provision applies to the revision of ss.
Tax 2.05,
2.61,
2.67,
2.82,
2.88,
14.01, and
14.03.
Section
78.79, Stats., provides “[t]he department may promulgate reasonable rules relating to the administration and enforcement of this chapter
…" This provision applies to the revision to ss.
Tax 4.10 and
4.65 (3) (c).
Section
227.04 (2m), Stats., requires each agency to promulgate a rule that requires the agency to disclose in advance the discretion that the agency will follow in the enforcement of rules against a small business that has committed a minor violation. This provision applies to the repeal and recreation of s.
Tax 1.15.
5. Estimate of Amount of Time that State Employees Will Spend Developing the Rule and of Other Resources Necessary to Develop the Rule
